This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
FIG. 1 depicts a vertical cross-section of a typical food waste disposer 110. The disposer may be mounted in a well-known manner in the drain opening of a sink 144 using mounting members 111 of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,007 that attach to a sink flange 146 disposed in the drain opening of sink 144. The disposer includes an upper food conveying section 112, a lower motor section 114, and a central grinding section 116 disposed between the food conveying section 112 and the motor section 114. The food conveying section 112 includes a housing 118 that forms an inlet 120 at its upper end for receiving food waste and water. Housing 118 is mounted at its upper, annular end to sink flange 146 by mounting members 111. Inlet 120 may include a baffle 142 having an outer seal portion (not shown) and an inner portion having a plurality of flaps (not shown). The housing 118 also forms a dishwasher inlet 121 for passing water discharged from a dishwasher (not shown). The food conveying section 112 conveys the food waste to the grinding section 116. The motor section 114 includes a motor 122 imparting rotational movement to a motor shaft 124. The motor 122 is enclosed within a motor housing 126
The grinding section 116 includes a grinding mechanism 135 having a rotating plate 134, a pair of lugs 136 on rotating plate 134, and a stationary shredder ring 138. The plate 134 is coupled to the motor shaft 124 of the motor 122 and rotates with motor shaft 124. The lugs 136 may be fastened to the plate 134 but are free to rotate relative to the plate 134. The grinding section 116 includes a housing 119. Housing 119 of grinding section 116 and housing 118 of food conveying section 112 may be a unitary housing and may be an injection-molded plastic housing where housings 118 and 119 are molded as a single housing. This single housing is fastened to the motor section 114 by a plurality of bolts 141 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 1).
The housing 119 of the grinding section 116 encompasses the grinding mechanism 135. The shredder ring 138, which includes a plurality of spaced teeth 140, is fixedly attached to an inner surface of the housing 119.
In the operation of the food waste disposer, the food waste delivered by the food conveying section 112 to the grinding section 116 is forced by the lugs 136 on the plate 134 against the teeth 140 of the shredder ring 138. The sharp edges of the teeth 140 grind or comminute the food waste into particulate matter sufficiently small to pass from above the plate 134 to below the plate 134 via gaps between the teeth 140 outside the periphery of the plate 134. Due to gravity, the particulate matter that passes through the gaps between the teeth 140, along with water injected into food waste disposer 110, and is discharged through a discharge outlet 150.